San Francisco Gay News

If you’ve ever been declined a ride by a cab because you were holding hands with your partner, wearing assless chaps or sporting some drag — never fear, your homo-loving chariot is here! The Castro District welcomes Homobiles, a “proposed California NPO 501c3 (non-profit organization) committed to providing secure and reliable transit to the SF Bay Area LGBTIQQ community and its allies.”

Homobiles is there for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is purely donation based. This volunteer collective of warm-hearted drivers operates for a suggested donation of $1 a minute. Need a ride? Text your address with cross street and name to 415-574-5023.

[Photo: Yelp]

“I absolutely love Homobiles. It's a great, safe way to get home, amazing drivers, and an awesome benefit to the queer community. These people are awesome,” said Yelper Natasha N., from San Francisco, CA.

Even if you’re not in need of a ride and you want to contribute to this wonderful cause, you can donate through PayPal on their website. Depending on how much you contribute, you can receive a heap of awesome prizes! (Wahoo!) Donating just $5 will get you a “big fat queer thank you” on their Facebook page. As you donate more and more you’ll get awesome goodies like first edition Homobiles trading cards (shown below), a Tribe8 EP (the founder of Homobiles, Lynn Breedlove’s band), an audio book copy of “God Speed,” VIP Homobiles priority, and a Queer Punk Rock history tour of San Francisco! Do these sound like things you need immediately? I thought so. Check out their donation page here: http://www.homobiles.org/donate

[Photo: newnownext.com]

“We are a no-budget volunteer-run operation working really hard to provide safe and comfortable rides to people that for many reasons have a challenging time on public transportation. Many of our passengers are low income, underserved and huge contributors to the LGBTQQIA and other sexual minorities communities, who would often not be able to traverse the area, performing in benefits, continuing their activism, and etc., if they were not able to get safely and cheaply around town. We strive to offer the most loving, comfortable service regardless of people's economic status, and embrace the donation based, no one turned away for lack of funds model. Because of this, we need to look to the community to help us,” said the companies website.

Lynn Breedlove, a local queer icon, lead singer of Tribe 8 and founder of Homobiles said in their mission statement: “We serve individuals who, due to their perceived gender or sexuality, are most vulnerable or at-risk for experiencing violence and harassment while traveling on public transportation. We believe that economics should never be a factor in safety, and are dedicated to the safe passage of LGBTIQQ people regardless of their economic status.”